LOS ANGELES >> With less than 72 hours left before the non-waiver trade deadline, the Dodgers’ pursuit of an “elite-level” acquisition appeared to intensity Friday with Yasiel Puig both in limbo and in play.

Puig was not in the Dodgers’ starting lineup for the seventh consecutive game (and ninth day) Friday despite Dodgers manager Dave Roberts saying as recently as Sunday that Puig told him his injured hamstring was 85 percent. Puig went through batting practice and pregame workout with the rest of the team.

Puig has not played since pinch-hitting in St. Louis last Friday and the Dodgers continue to play short-handed. Roberts justified it by saying the schedule that will allow them to go with a four-man rotation (possibly for another week) also allows them to carry Puig on the active roster and not move him to the disabled list.

“We don’t need that fifth spot in the rotation yet so we’re carrying the extra reliever but also the extra bench player, five instead of four,” Roberts said Friday. “If it was different construction, we’d have to make that decision (about putting Puig on the DL). But right now, we’re not forced to.”

There might be other things in play, however. The Dodgers’ willingness to carry but not play Puig coincides with the approach of the trade deadline and their apparent willingness to move Puig in a trade, possibly in a multi-team deal that would land outfielder Jay Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds. Since Andrew Friedman took over the front office, the Dodgers have almost shown a preference for multi-team deals, acquiring prospects to add to their stash or taking on bothersome contracts from other teams in order to acquire the players they targeted.

The link between the Dodgers and Reds was the subject of multiple reports Friday afternoon.

But team chairman Mark Walter said he was unaware of any pending deal involving Puig.

“I haven’t heard anything about moving Yasiel. Nothing,” Walter said on the field before Friday’s game. “I don’t think we want to. I think he’s still got a lot of potential.”

That might have been the correct response in 2014 but Puig’s star has dimmed considerably over the past two seasons with multiple hamstring injuries – like the current tightness – keeping him on the sidelines and stunted development at the plate limiting his production. Since the start of the 2015 season, Puig, now 25, has batted .255 with a .726 OPS and 18 home runs in 158 games.

The 29-year-old Bruce, meanwhile, has bounced back from a down year in 2015 to bat .271 this season with an .895 OPS, 25 home runs (tied for fourth in the National League) and 79 RBIs (tied for first in the NL) going into Friday’s games.

The Dodgers have also been scouting the Oakland A’s where another slugging outfielder, Josh Reddick, could displace Puig if acquired.

The speculation surrounding Bruce and Reddick (along with A’s left-hander Rich Hill) increased Friday as talks involving White Sox left-hander Chris Sale seem to have diminished with the White Sox reportedly seeking four or five prospects in exchange for their ace. At the same time, Dodgers scouts continue to monitor the Tampa Bay Rays (Chris Archer and Matt Moore) and Royals (Wade Davis) for potential deals that would land the “elite-level talent” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said would be targeted.

Health cares

Left-hander Brett Anderson pitched three innings for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, allowing one run on five hits while throwing 36 pitches. It was his first game action since surgery this spring to repair a herniated disc in his back.

Anderson is scheduled to make two more rehab starts, going five innings in his next start and stretching out to seven after that, before he would be ready to rejoin the Dodgers.

Kike’ Hernandez has moved his rehab to Double-A Tulsa. Hernandez has been on the DL since the end of June with left ribcage inflammation. He started a rehab assignment a week ago in the Arizona Summer League.

Trayce Thompson hit off a tee Friday and hopes to take live batting practice Saturday. Thompson has been out since the All-Star break with lower back irritation. But he is hopeful about starting a rehab assignment next week.

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.

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